A town famous for its hot dogs (hold the ketchup) may see an uptick in vendors to sell them this summer.

A pair of city committees on Wednesday approved drastic cuts in the costs associated with starting a food cart, which advocates say can run thousands of dollars. The ordinance, put forth as part of a business license reform package by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, reduces licensing fees and startup costs by more than half. The measure requires a vote by the full City Council on Feb. 22, and would take effect July 1.

The ordinance cuts the cost of a two-year business license to $100 from $350 and eliminates the cost of an additional business license to use a shared kitchen, a required rental for all food cart operators. The cost for a short-term shared-kitchen-user business license costs $75. A two-year shared-kitchen-user business license for those with food cart licenses runs $330.

The proposal to reduce the fees for food carts was first proposed by Ald. Roberto Maldonado in September. Perhaps surprising to Chicagoans who have several peddlers selling food in their neighborhoods, there are only five businesses with licensed carts in the city. The city first made food carts legal in late 2015, and the reduction in fees is intended to spur more to hit the road.

Yolis Tamales John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune

Ines Limon puts a Yolis Tamales cart back in its place at 5002 S. Western Ave., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, in Chicago. Limon's niece, Maria Mendez, owner of Yolis Tamales and three carts, plans to purchase a fourth license for a cart.

Ines Limon puts a Yolis Tamales cart back in its place at 5002 S. Western Ave., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, in Chicago. Limon's niece, Maria Mendez, owner of Yolis Tamales and three carts, plans to purchase a fourth license for a cart.

(John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Maria Mendez of Yolis Tamales operates three licensed carts in Chicago and a brick-and-mortar location with her family in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. She thinks the reduction in cost and removal of the extra license fee are going to encourage other small business owners to start operating carts, a move she sees as positive.

"Now it's not going to be too expensive, so it's going to be great," she said. Referring to new vendors, she added, "I think the cost (reduction) is going to be a great benefit to them."

Mendez doesn't have to fork over money to rent a shared kitchen or pay the related license fees because her family makes in their own restaurant kitchen the hundreds of tamales they sell on the carts every day. But she said that's the most difficult cost for fellow chefs who want to follow in her footsteps.

Other regulations are also preventing more food carts from starting up, said Christopher Lentino, manager of Chicago outreach with the Illinois Policy Institute. The organization has been working with the city and vendors to ease the cost of competition in the industry, issues it has also been fighting on behalf of food truck owners.

Aldermen already trying to restrict newly legal food carts Hal Dardick and John Byrne

Chicago food cart vendors who have operated in the legal shadows for many decades soon will have the option of going legit under a new ordinance that won City Council approval Thursday, even as two aldermen took the first steps toward banning them on some of the city's tonier streets.

The vendors,...

Chicago food cart vendors who have operated in the legal shadows for many decades soon will have the option of going legit under a new ordinance that won City Council approval Thursday, even as two aldermen took the first steps toward banning them on some of the city's tonier streets.

The vendors,...

(Hal Dardick and John Byrne)

Food carts have to be temperature-controlled to keep food from spoiling, just like a restaurant kitchen, and food can't be prepared on the cart. That means an operator can't add toppings to a hot dog or add salsa to a taco for a customer who asks for it. Packets of condiments are allowed.

"We're trying to make it possible for people to make a living and get out from under the thumb of government regulations," Lentino said. Illinois Policy estimates that anywhere from 2,100 to 6,500 new jobs could be created if regulations are eased. Many food cart owners are family-owned small businesses, he said.

While the committee approval of the license fee reductions is a step in the right direction, Lentino said a long-term goal is to allow food carts to cook onboard. For carts' bigger brethren food trucks, the approval to cook onboard in 2012 came with stringent rules on where and for how long they could park. A lawsuit on behalf of food truck owners was filed soon after, and a judge ruled in favor of the city late last year in the long-simmering lawsuit. That ruling upheld the stipulations that a food truck can't remain in a space for more than two hours, must have GPS installed for the city to monitor its whereabouts, and must stay more than 200 feet (one-third of a city block) away from any brick-and-mortar business that serves food to the public.

An ordinance to extend parking time for food trucks to six hours was introduced to the City Council in December and is expected to be voted on next month.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SamWillTravel

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